


The demon inside

by Irondragon4



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23027800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irondragon4/pseuds/Irondragon4
Summary: For a young man, he experienced many hardships until he turned his life around and made it something he could enjoy.For a young woman, she had experienced hardships and lose throughout hundreds of years and has never been able to hold a stable life.Can someone who's life has fallen to pieces at their feet be helped and brought back into a meaningful existence?
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sting Eucliffe/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**_Sting's pov_ **

I covered my hand in white light and punched one of the mages in the face. I lifted my gloved hand and wiped against the side of my mouth.

My eyes scanned the guild Hall that belonged to these dark mages, looking for anyone who had been missed by me or my friends. Everyone down the stairs was occupied by someone so I moved my eyes to look up for anyone upstairs.

My eyes focused on someone standing on the railing. They were stood, watching the fighting but they weren't joining in themselves.

I looked over at the stairs which were unoccupied. I slowly slipped over to the stairs and stalked up, keeping this person in my gaze.

They still hadn't noticed me, gaze still focused down on the lower floor of the building. They lifted a gloved hand, placing it on the banister only to quickly retract it when the banister froze up slightly around where her hand had been.

'Alright. So they don't seem to be hostile. Maybe I can negotiate with them' I thought. I stepped forward one more step before stopping, straightening my body so I was less threatening.

This caught their attention. They turned to me, the mass of white hair whipping into their face.

I could finally see them now. She had pale skin on her face excluding the black skin over her eye and at the side of her lip which resembled scars. She was wearing a simple top with shorts, thigh high socks and black boots with some black collar that had a box with a light that was flashing orange.

Two long elf like ears pointed downward. She took a couple steps back. "Hey. It's alright. I just want to talk" I assured her. She looked at me with huge amounts of skepticism that was written all over her face.

She turned around, hair whipping with her before running down the corridor. "Wait. Stop" I called, running after her. She wouldn't be able to get off this floor anyway, there was only one way down and that was the stairs.

She skidded across the floor, her boots leaving scrape marks on the old wood and splintering it before she practically dove into an open room. I did my best to skid to a hault but stopped after I passed the door.

I rushed into the room, the woman sitting on the window, legs hanging out and hands gripping the frame, some ice being left behind by the left hand.

"Stop" I ordered. She let out a startled sound, letting go of the window frame and falling forward.

"Oh my gods!" I yelled, running forward and looking out the window. She would have had to have broken something from that fall.

Under the window, I saw her slowly stumble to her feet and limp off, right leg basically dragging along the ground as she grabbed onto plants and trees which wilted or froze under her touch just so she could keep her balance.

I had to find her. I had no idea if she was part of this guild or not and would definitely have to question her.


	2. Chapter 2

???'s pov

I limped my way through the trees, every step painful but I had no choice. If I didn't move then I'd be done for. I shouldn't have stopped to watch that fight. I should have taken what I came for and left.

My right leg caught in a tree root and I fell over, ground freezing beneath my left and hand the grass wilting and turning grey beneath my right.

I rolled onto my back to avoid touching the ground more. 'Dammit. With that mess up they can track me a little better' I thought. 

Just as that thought hit my head, I heard leaves crunching. Someone was heading in my direction. My ears pricked up, eyes widening. 

I looked down at my leg. It was still stuck in the tree root and with my bones pulled away from each other, I wouldn't be able to run away fast enough. 

The noise wass getting closer. I had no cover and I doubt I could get my leg out in time. Unless I just detach it all together but whoever was after me would probably take it for an experiment or something.

When the footsteps are close enough that I know they are only a few metres away. I give up. I just stay on the ground, back pressed against the dead grass and ice while my leg was stuck in the tree root. Might as well let them take me.

I closed my eyes, the footsteps coming close to my head. "Are you alright?" they asked. I opened one eye, looking up. It was the blond that I'd seen in that building.

"If your gonna take me then just take me already" I muttered defeatedly. "I came to question you on what you knew about the guild over there" he explained, pointing back in the direction he'd come from.

"Nothing. I was getting a few things and that was it" I sighed, kicking the tree root with my left leg.

"Are you in a trade with them?" he asked. "No. I only went to take a couple of their books while they weren't looking. I got distracted when I heard all the fighting" I mumbled.

Something wrapped around my trapped leg and gently tugged on it but it didn't budge. I pushed myself up, elbows holding myself so I wouldn't fall back down.

This guy was looking at my leg which was trapped in the tree root. He lifted one hand up, covering it in white. I closed my eyes.

The sound of wood splintering resounded in my ears. I looked. "That worked right?" he asked.

I reached forward and removed my boot, the lower half of my leg going with it instead of being removed from the boot.

"Oh my gods!" he yelled, eyes trained on the bones that sat in my boot. I ignored him, rolling up my trouser leg until it was above my knee.

I pulled my leg out from inside my boot and then carefully reattached it to the rest of my body. "What the hell? Your leg just does that?" he asked, looking shocked.

I shrugged, pulling my trouser leg down and putting my boot back on. I was used to these kinds of reactions.

A bright green light was in the corner of my vision. 'Oh good. My shock colour wasn't going to go off' I thought, tightening my shoelaces.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Sting's pov** _

The orange light on the side of that collar on her neck flashed one last time before turning to a steady green light, glowing against her skin and leaving a slight green glow. I offered my hand which she just looked at it with wary eyes. "I don't touch people" she responds, finishing tying the laces on her boots.

"Oh sorry. Um.....what's your name?" I ask, placing one hand behind my head with a slight nervous smile. "Why?" she asks. I raise an eyebrow. "Because I want to know your name" I explain. Her face softens. "You want to know my name?" she asks, looking surprised, her long ears pricking upwards. 

"Yeah. I have to call you something right" I joke. "Yanagimachi Nadeshiko" she responds, standing up to be face to face with me. "Wow. That's a long name. I'm Sting Eucliffe" I smile, offering her my hand before remembering that she didn't like touching and retract my hand.

"Do you have anywhere to stay? I can take you there if you want" I offer. "I have somewhere yes" she responds. I look to the side, shuffling my foot awkwardly. Her ears twitch before she realizes something. "Oh. You wanted to take me back there" she mumbles to herself, fiddling with one finger of the glove on her left hand while biting her lip with slightly yellow teeth. 

"If it makes you uncomfortable then I don't have to. I just want to make sure you get back safe. There might be a few dark mages around that my guild missed" I assure her. Her ears twitch, falling down before pricking up again. 

"I guess it would be nice" she mutters, staring down at her boots again. "Lead the way then" I say. She starts walking, no longer dragging her right leg across the ground. I furrow my eyebrows, turning to her. "Doesn't it hurt?" I ask. "What hurt?" she looks at me with confused eyes.

"You know. When your leg popped off" I explain. "Well... yeah. But I'm used to it" she mumbles, looking down at her boots. I go quiet, just walking alongside her.

The ground suddenly starts to turn frosty, snow falling from the sky. That wasn't right, we were nowhere near the mountains. The snow sticks to my hair as I look at Yanagimachi. She didn't even seem bothered despite the simple top she wore that exposed her shoulders. Wait. I just noticed that the actual bone of her shoulder was exposed, some black skin swaying in the wind.

I lift my arms up to rub my arms. "Its so cold. How can you handle this?" I ask, breathing out a cloud. "I'm not bothered by the cold" she replies, continuing to walk. Eventually she gets to a tone of danger tape wrapped around the trees, everything beyond the tape frozen solid with clouds covering any sign of the sun or sky. The snow was falling in larger quantities here.

"I don't think we should be here. That tape was put there for a reason" I mumble, shoulders shaking from the cold. "You don't have to go any further. I'll be fine" She states, lifting up part of the tape and ducking under it. I bit my lip but ducked under the tape, following right behind her. There was obviously something here that was dangerous, she shouldn't go alone.


	4. Chapter 4

Yanagimachi's pov

I ducked under the tape and continued walking, not even bothered by the snow falling around me. Sting ran to catch up with me, skidding on the ice when he tried to stop.

"You don't have to follow if you don't like it you don't want to. I can make it back just fine" I explain, my ears pointing towards the ground.

"No. I'm fine. I can handle this. Its just a little cold" he shivered, rubbing his arms up and down his arms.

I looked at him as he let out a breath of white cloud. My ears twitched before I took hold of my shirt and pulled it over my head. "Ah. What are you doing?" Sting cried, covering his eyes with his hands.

When it was off, I tossed it at his face. He pulled it off, looking at it with a red face. He looked up at me. "Why would you take your shirt off?" he asked, getting redder.

"I don't need it. I don't get cold" I replied, tucking my hands into my pockets for a second before removing them again.

I turned to look at the side, judging how much longer we would have when I felt a tap on my tail that was wrapped around my body. I tensed up, ears pointing up.

"What's that?" Sting asked. "I don't know what you're talking about" I lied, hiding my tail behind me.

He walked up to my side and took hold of it, looking at the half frozen, half black skinned tail. He touched it with one finger and I felt a chill run up my spine.

"Stop that" I snapped. "Why?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't like it" I hissed, the tip of my tail twitching. He let go of it.

"What are you?" he asked, tapping my right shoulder. "I'm a demon. If you don't like it then you don't need to stay" I reminded, beginning to walk again.

He kept pace with me. "So were you part of Tartaros?" he asked. "What? No. I hate those guys. Giving demons a bad name" I grumbled.

"Did they make you?" he asked. "No" I stated plainly. "Then who did?" he was clearly not giving up. "Zeref" I stated nonchalantly.

He stopped in his tracks for a second while I kept walking. He then ran to catch up with me. "You're a book of Zeref?" he asked.

I stopped but he kept going and within a few steps, walked right into a frozen metal fence. He rubbed his nose and shook his head, looking up.

"I really don't think we should be here" he objected. I ignored him and ducked down through the small hole in the fence, standing back up when I got to the other side and making sure nothing got caught in the sharp edges of the fence.

"Yanagimachi?" Sting asked. "You can leave if you want. I've told you before. You don't need to follow me" I state plainly before starting to walk again.


	5. Chapter 5

Sting's pov

I stood on the other side of the fence for a few minutes before ducking through the hole in the fence. On the other side was a bunch of guards, guns in hand. I tensed until I realized they were all frozen solid. I released a big breath I didn't even realize I had been holding.

I quickly skid across the frozen ground to catch up with Yanagimachi who was standing still and staring up at the highly defended building. "What is this place? A weapons vault or something" I asked. "You could say that but not the weapons that you're thinking of" she replied, walking over to the door that had been frozen halfway open.

She slipped through, the narrow tail flicking through the gap behind her. I followed, easily slipping through the gap that the door had. Inside were more guards at the entrance along with some men in masks and lab coats. "A lab?" I asked.

"Yep" she sighed, ears pointing down. We walked past one room which had someone in the middle of a phone call. Deeper into the building were people with abnormalities, all of them with a very similar collar around their neck and a little box attached. I bit my lip before looking at Yanagimachi.

Her collar was the exact same as these people. I kept walking until she stopped. I looked at her before turning to what she was staring at. A single room that had been left untouched by the ice, dark marks surrounding the door along with claw scrapes. "Whatever is in there has to be dangerous, maybe we should go" I suggest, looking nervous.

"I wouldn't know. Am I dangerous?" she asked, turning to look at me. I gave her a confused look. What was she talking about. She pointed to a scorched name plate on the side of the wall. I walked over to it.

Using one hand, I wiped across the dark marks to get a better sight. Most of the metal was destroyed but I could make out the first four letters of the two name on the plate. Yana and Nade. I furrowed my eyebrows before turning to her.

I looked at the shirt she had given me and then up to her again. She reached up to the glove on her right hand, slowly pulling it down to her wrist. Carved into the bone was a number. 001. My eyes widened.

"Well? Am I dangerous?" she asked again. I was stunned into silence. "No. You......you don't but how are you still alive when everyone else here was frozen. It doesn't make sense. Did you run away and if so then why come back?" I asked, feeling confused.

"Because I never ran away" she stated, ears dipping down. I looked at her left arm that led to the left side of her body. It was made entirely out of ice. "Did you do this?" I asked, stepping back and hitting the wall. "Not by choice. I was pushed past my limit. I couldn't control it. They all died the moment my magic was released. None of them were alive by the time they were frozen. Even if I knew how to unfreeze everyone here, they would be dead" she explained, ears dipping down further and tail brushing against the floor.

I stepped forward, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me, ears twitching. I didn't say anything, just kept eye contact. She seemed to understand what I meant without words.

"This is my home. You don't have to stay here anymore" she explained. "I'll come back. I need to give you your shirt back anyway. Be safe" I told her. She nodded. I slowly removed my hand from her shoulder and walked around her.

I walked all the way back to the dark guild was to find Rogue and Rufus talking to a lieutenant. "Everything alright?" I asked. The lieutenant looked at me, his dark brows knitting together. "Mr Eucliffe?" he asked. "Yeah?" I tilt my head with confusion. "Where did you get that shirt?" he asked, talking hold of the bottom of it.

"Oh. Someone I met who got injured had it. I took her home and it started to get cold so she gave me her shirt" I replied. The lieutenant pulled the back of the shirt as if looking at something before letting go. "You are all free to go" he states before walking over to the others. I raised an eyebrow for a second but shook my head, choosing to forget about what just happened.


	6. Chapter 6

Yanagimachi's pov

I lay on the thin mattress of my bed, staring over at the metal desk on the other side of the room. The childish drawings that I'd made all those years ago scattered across its surface.

I sigh, ears pointing downward. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, turning towards the untouched door.

There was a time it was always locked. It wouldn't even be open for food or water. That wass what the small hatch was for. I was only brought out when it was deemed necessary. In other words, when they thought I actually served a purpose to them.

An echoey sound from somewhere in the building caught my attention. I pricked my ears, standing up. Had Sting returned already?

I slipped out the slight gap I'd left in my door before slowly walking down the halls. I walked all the way to the front door but saw nothing. My ears twitched. Odd. Could have sworn I heard something.

I turned around again, walking back to my room. About halfway there, I heard another sound. This time a click. Before I could register the sound, something hit the side of my neck.

I stumbled to the side, collapsing against the wall. I reached up to my neck, pulling on what was at the side. A small cylinder shaped object with a sharp needle at the end was in my hand.

I looked around before spotting someone stood in the entrance of one of the rooms, a gun in hand that was pointed towards me.

My ears pointed down again. I'd been deceived. Sting had told someone where I was. They were going to take me away and lock me up. I was going to be a lab rat. Locked up in a dark room with no way out. Just like before. Panic was the only thing that crossed my mind as my body slumped onto the floor, dark covering my vision more and more until everything turned black.


	7. Chapter 7

Sting's pov

I followed Yanagimachi's scent back towards that frozen building. This time I had put on a jacket that would actually keep me warm. When I reached the beginning of the snow, I hesitated before ducking under the tape and continuing in the direction of the building.

It didn't take long to get to the metal fence, climbing through the gap in the frozen metal. It tore my trousers slightly but I didn't bother with that. I walked over to the building and slipped into the frozen hallways.

I let out a cold breath, seeing my own breath. I wiped my arm over my mouth and continued walking. I walked all the way to the untouched room. The door was open slightly. I knocked.

"Hey Yanagimachi. I brought your shirt back. Hope you don't mind the intrusion" I call. No answer. I knock again. Still nothing. I push the door open more and step inside.

The room itself was dark, no windows and only one light which wasn't turned on. I saw lots of sheets of paper on a table and covering the walls. I walk over to the table and pick up one of the drawings.

It was slightly crumpled and the paper was darkening from age. All the drawings were similar to that a little kid would draw, except they were only drawn in black and blue. No sign of any other colours. I looked at the desk. There was two refill pens sitting on the table, both with no lids and leaking ink.

I picked up the blue one, a drop of the liquid dropping onto my skin. I placed the pen back down, looking over the desk again. All the drawings were of similar things. Lots of people in coats and one similar in appearance to Yanagimachi. There were some drawings of an old woman which sat on top of an old notebook that was tied shut with a string.

I picked up the notebook and pulled on the tip of the bow tied with the string. It unraveled itself, falling limply to the ground. I opened the notebook which was filled with writing. The writing was messy, definitely written by a kid.

I read over it. The book itself was recounting events that had happened. A journal. I closed the book and put it back. I turned around. The only other object in the room was a metal bed frame with a thin mattress and blanket. No sign of Yanagimachi anywhere.

I walked out of the room and started exploring other rooms. Maybe she hadn't heard me coming and was somewhere else. I checked in every room that was accessible. Nothing. One room which I guess was a record room had its door broken for entry.

I climbed through the hole in the room and looked around. Another frozen room full of books. I looked through each shelf but didn't find any sign of her. What did catch my attention was a single book on the shelf. This one was completely untouched by the ice. The book was a dark red colour and had no writing across the spine.

I pulled the book out and looked at the cover. The book had a thin yellow line surrounding the front and a little bit left of large black letters which had been scratched at to the point of being unreadable anymore. The pages were old, turning a beige colour. I opened the book to the first page.

The book glowed and hundreds of words in an ancient language was flooded out of the book. I quickly closed it, the words disappearing. This had to be Yanagimachi's. She had said she was a book of Zeref. But then why was her book just lying here. If I remember correctly the only book of Zeref who's book was separate from their body was Natsu. Mard Geer had been turned into the book itself. I decided that I would bring this book to the guild hall and Rogue or Rufus could help. Maybe I could find her that way.


End file.
